Twins Fest is always a fun outing, but it was so much more fun this year because of Carter's age -- he was so mesmerized by all of the people and activity at the Dome. The entire drive there he talked about meeting "TC the Bear", so we were thrilled to arrive just in time for TC's photo session. Carter was a bit freaked out by TC at first, but loosened up enough for us to get a semi-good family photo. Other highlights included the big bouncing cage for kids, face painting, kids sized baseball diamond, and mini donuts...of course!!
Family photo with TC Bear After meeting TC, Carter kept asking us where TC's motorcycle was (because TC rides a 4-wheeler on the field during games) Go Twins! Best view in the house!
Carter shares my LOVE of mini donuts -- smart kid! ;)
Carter started swimming lessons today! He is still too young to be in the pool by himself, so I was the lucky one to jump into the cold pool with him :) He was thrilled to go swimming when we first arrived, but then he hit the chilly water and had second thoughts. After playing some fun games and singing songs with the other kids, he loosed up a bit and had a wonderful time!
Carter and I spend Friday mornings at ECFE class near our house. The fall semester came to an end last week, so this week was "off" before the spring session begins next Friday. We thought it would be fun to have some of our ECFE friends over to the house so the kids could play and the moms could catch-up.
Carter and his friends, Hunter and Zachary, had a wonderful time running around the house, scattering toys everywhere. The moms got to chatting and next thing we know we see Carter walking around with a wad of toilet paper. With the other two boys no where in sight, we ran to the bathroom where we found an empty roll of toilet paper, some scattered on the floor, and the rest stuffed into the toilet. It was pretty hilarious to catch them in the act!
Carter is becoming quite the little train fanatic. A lot of our playtime lately has been spent in his new playroom building tracks and talking to Thomas (the train, that is). Here is his latest creation...
We think Carter has finally mastered his utensil skills! He successfully fed himself an entire container of yogurt without flipping the spoon upside down and spilling its contents. Ah, simple pleasures! :)
Spoon is loaded with yogurt and ready for takeoff...
...spoon is nearing destination...
...we have a successful landing... ...and a happy kid! :)
Carter loves raiding the kitchen pantry. Most things are out of his reach, but we find ourselves having to move things up a few shelves every couple of weeks as Carter finds more creative ways to reach things.
Tonight Carter disappeared into the pantry while I was getting dinner ready. I asked him a few times what he was up to in there and he said: "I'm packing pop for Daddy". A few minutes later, he opened the pantry door and pushed out a basket filled with Diet Mt Dew. He looked at me and said: "Daddy will be so excited"! Sure enough, Kyle was thrilled to find a basket filled with his favorite pop when he got home from work.
Pop for Daddy!
The other day Carter also let himself into the pantry while I was getting dressed. When I came downstairs he had graciously "set the table" -- there was one granola bar at each place setting. Such a great helper! :)
We love 3-day weekends! With Kyle off work for MLK Day on Monday, we were able to enjoy a lot of family time.
Friday evening we entertained some of my old co-workers from Pulte and K.Hovnanian, along with their significant others and kids. It was wonderful to catch-up with them, and Carter had a great time playing with Avery (7) and Kennedy (9). They were great little playmates, which allowed the adults to have some time for adult conversation.
We headed to my parents' house in Stillwater Saturday morning for a delicious birthday brunch for two of my sisters, who both celebrated birthdays this month. Happy Birthday month to Jesse (25) and Casey (31)!! It is always fun when we have the opportunity to get the whole bunch of us together, and we were lucky enough to have my grandparents drive in from New Richmond to celebrate, too.
Sunday was dedicated to Vikings football, which we watched with the neighbors and our good friends, the Minnichs, both of whom have kids. Though the kids are a bit younger than Carter, he still had fun sharing all of his toys with them.
Carter was early to bed both Saturday and Sunday night (since naps seem to be a rarity these days, bedtime seems to be earlier and earlier), so Kyle and I took advantage by having my sister and brother-in-law over to play Wii. Jess and John have the new Super Mario Bros game, which we played for hours upon hours. I bet this is the laziest couple of nights we've had in a long time, but it sure was a blast!
We didn't get a ton of pictures this weekend, but here are a few. Now that I am back to blogging once a week, I need to get better about having my camera out more often!!
Being a goofball :) Go Vikes!! Look at that concentration playing Wii!!
Oh how we miss the warm summer months! We are so excited for the mornings when we can wake-up and head straight outdoors after breakfast -- whether it be going on a long walk, playing in the backyard, spending hours at the park, splashing around at the Splash Pad, or heading North to the cabin. I know it is only January, but we are already getting restless being stuck inside on these long winter days.
Today, Carter and I decided to get out of the house and head to a favorite spot: the Maple Grove Maze. Carter loves jumping in the ball pit, playing on the indoor equipment and going down the slide.
As great as it is for Carter to get all of his energy out at these indoor gyms, there's nothing quite like a little fresh air -- come on warm summer months -- we're ready!
Lately, we have noticed that Carter loves to line things up in a very specific order -- toy trucks, train set pieces, and most recently his coloring crayons/markers. Kyle and I were talking in the kitchen this evening while Carter was coloring in the family room -- or so we thought. Here is the scene we found:
As most of you know, Carter typically does not go to bed without "the trifecta" - his Nukie, blankie and "Buster" (his stuffed dog). While we are fine with him having his little blankie and Buster with him at bedtime, we decided it is time to break the habit of having a Nuk before he gets overly attached. For the past week we have been telling Carter that the "Nukie Fairy" would be coming to our house soon to gather-up all of his Nuks and bring them to the other new babies in the world, but that she would leave a gift for him in place of the Nuks. When I asked him what he thought the "Nukie Fairy" might bring him, he said "colors" (which means coloring crayons or markers). Luckily we happened to have some extra packs of coloring supplies around the house that he had received for gifts but had not yet opened. So last night was the big night -- as usual, he asked for his Nukie at bedtime, but we said that tonight the "Nukie Fairy" was coming to our house so he needed to leave them out for her to take. Luckily he had no problem with that and went to bed without it! He slept through the night great, didn't ask a thing about it this morning, and was thrilled to find his gift of new "colors" that was left for him. Mission Accomplished!! Whew!
Here is a video clip of Carter "skiing" (he was actually just about to the bottom of the hill but was scooting himself along nicely) -- if you listen closely, you can hear him excitedly say "I'm skiing! I'm skiing Uncle John - I'm skiing!" Very cute... :)
We had a wonderful last minute trip to Lutsen over New Years this year and were lucky enough to have mild weather (if you call 5 degrees mild) so we could take Carter skiing for his first time! We stayed in a quaint little condo at Lutsen Resort with a beautiful view of Lake Superior. My sister, Jesse, and her husband, John, joined us for skiing, relaxing (massages for Jess & I) and ringing in 2010. Here were some of the highlights...
First night at Lutsen Resort - 12/29 John & Jess (poor Jess was sick the whole trip!) - 12/30 Getting dressed to go skiing! Carter was definitely blessed with the Miller quads!- 12/31 Outfitted and ready to hit the slopes! - 12/31
Kyle and I with our little skiier! - 12/31 Carter's teacher and hero on the slopes, his Uncle John! - 12/31 Loving it! - 12/31
Couldn't stop smiling! - 12/31
He's a natural! - 12/31 The boys with their skis - 12/31 Jess and John were nice enough to bring us this delicious New Years Eve dinner of shrimp scampi, filet, twice baked potatoes, bread -- and some cocktails of course :) - 12/31 Jess & John's dog, Boomer, didn't quite make it until midnight - neither did Jess & Carter :)
We are beyond thrilled that the basement project is 99% done!! And thanks to many contractors, Kyle and especially my father-in-law, we were able to get it done just in time to host two Christmas celebrations! We are so grateful that my father-in-law, Dave, was willing to use so much of his vacation time from work to help us out -- he painted, scrubbed, cleaned, tiled the entire bathroom (shower & floor), laid the slate bar flooring and installed the toilet. Things were very rushed towards the end, but carpet was laid on the 23rd and we had our first gathering on the 25th -- whew! The last few things to do are paint touch-ups, installing the bathroom sink/accessories and bar sink, laying the rubber flooring in the workout room, and decorating. It has been wonderful for Carter to have his own little playroom downstairs (though we continue to find his toys strewn throughout the house) and for us to have a wonderful space to entertain! We look forward to having many fun gatherings in the coming years! Here are a few snapshots of the nearly-finished basement. Enjoy...
Bar looking from family room - 12/23 Beautiful slate flooring in the bar -12/23 So THRILLED to have carpet and some furniture down here!! - 12/24 Living Room - 12/24 TV Niche - 12/24 Pool Table and Foosball area from living room - 12/24
Dave's handywork on the tile floor/shower & toilet! Now all we need is a vanity top/sink & accessories and the bathroom is done! - 12/24 Carter's "mousehole" underneath the stairs where he keeps his big stuffed dog and sleeping bag :) - 12/24 Carter's playroom - 12/24
Family photo with TC Bear
After meeting TC, Carter kept asking us where TC's motorcycle was (because TC rides a 4-wheeler on the field during games)
Go Twins!
Best view in the house!
Carter shares my LOVE of mini donuts -- smart kid! ;)
Busted!
Spoon is loaded with yogurt and ready for takeoff...
...spoon is nearing destination...
...we have a successful landing...
...and a happy kid! :)
Pop for Daddy!
Granola bar anyone?
NO!!!!
Being a goofball :)
Go Vikes!!
Look at that concentration playing Wii!!
Ice Cream anyone??
Down the slide...
...and into the ball pit!
Dreaming of the summer months! (July 2009)
First night at Lutsen Resort - 12/29
John & Jess (poor Jess was sick the whole trip!) - 12/30
Getting dressed to go skiing! Carter was definitely blessed with the Miller quads!- 12/31
Outfitted and ready to hit the slopes! - 12/31
Kyle and I with our little skiier! - 12/31
Carter's teacher and hero on the slopes, his Uncle John! - 12/31
Loving it! - 12/31
Couldn't stop smiling! - 12/31
He's a natural! - 12/31
The boys with their skis - 12/31
Jess and John were nice enough to bring us this delicious New Years Eve dinner of shrimp scampi, filet, twice baked potatoes, bread -- and some cocktails of course :) - 12/31
Jess & John's dog, Boomer, didn't quite make it until midnight - neither did Jess & Carter :)
Bar looking from family room - 12/23
Beautiful slate flooring in the bar -12/23
So THRILLED to have carpet and some furniture down here!! - 12/24
Living Room - 12/24
TV Niche - 12/24
Pool Table and Foosball area from living room - 12/24
Dave's handywork on the tile floor/shower & toilet! Now all we need is a vanity top/sink & accessories and the bathroom is done! - 12/24
Carter's "mousehole" underneath the stairs where he keeps his big stuffed dog and sleeping bag :) - 12/24
Carter's playroom - 12/24
